For researchers, useful datasets and potential questions

September 27, 2013 - 09:59 AM

Author:

Irene S. Wu

Senior Analyst, Policy Division, International Bureau

At the Federal Communications Commission, we publish a large amount of information and data, much of it potentially useful for research projects. However, the FCC’s information is organized in ways that facilitate rulemakings, not research; and for those not directly involved in rulemakings, it can be difficult to find the most useful resources, even though the information is public. To help researchers, today we are releasing a list[2] of questions that we hope will pique the interest of researchers in the US and around the world, along with some tips[2] as to where the public data already exist. The list[2] includes

Public datasets that could be used by researchers, such as

Broadcasting ownership data

International traffic data

Broadband performance data

Consumer complaints

Public information that could be used to build a dataset, such as

911 calls

Consumer lookup tools

Research questions touching on issues such as

Interpreting broadband service quality and performance

Network configuration options for schools

Price elasticity studies for international calls

IP-to-IP international calling

Cloud computing

Of course, any efforts expended by researchers to address these topics are completely voluntary, and no funding has been obligated or is expected to be obligated for any contractual undertakings. We hope this will continue the long and fruitful dialogue the FCC has had with the research community and generate new ideas and insights that will benefit public policy in the future.